Syringe pumps are commonly used for the infusion of a solution from a syringe through an infusion line to a patient. The infusion generally occurring slowly over a period of time.
The typical syringe consists of several well-known and understood components, not the least of which are a barrel between a nozzle and a set of finger grips, a plunger seal disposed within the barrel, and a plunger attached to the plunger seal and protruding from beyond the finger grips so as to permit an operator to draw the plunger seal away from the nozzle in a first instance—such as to draw a solution into the barrel of the syringe by way of the nozzle, and in a second instance to depress/drive the plunger seal towards the nozzle so as to dispense a solution from the barrel by way of the nozzle in a second instance.
It is therefore well understood and expected that the plunger is substantially about the same length as the barrel of the syringe. Moreover, when loaded with solution, the overall length of the syringe—i.e., the combined length of the barrel and plunger, may be about twice the length of the barrel alone.
As such, mechanical syringe pumps are traditionally at least as long as the extended plunger, so that they may accommodate the plunger and mechanically induce its progress from an initially extended state to a fully depressed and nested state.
Mechanical syringe pumps therefore inherently impose at least two issues that may be undesirable in some situations where the use of a syringe pump may be otherwise desired. The first is that by accommodating the range of motion of the plunger, the syringe pump adds significantly to the overall length of the syringe—generally at least the length of the syringe and the length of the plunger when fully retracted.
This added length thereby adds at least a second factor in that the length makes portage of the syringe and pump during use potentially undesirable and/or difficult. In addition, as the length of the housing is to accommodate the actuation of the plunger, a jarring of the syringe pump may harm the plunger and in turn impede the function of the syringe pump
Moreover, the typical syringe pump cannot be unobtrusively placed in a coat pocket or pants pocket during use.
In addition, many syringe pumps are electrically powered, either by connection to an electrical grid or by batteries. In the first case, reliance upon an electrical grid makes the syringe pump less than easily portable during use where the patient may desire to leave the area of the grid connection. In the second case, storage of batteries requires extra space and weight for the syringe pump, which again may reduce the ease of portability.
Hence, there is a need for a method and system for a syringe pump that is capable of overcoming one or more of the above identified challenges.